USS Batfish (SS-310)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Batfish (SS-310), at Muskogee, Oklahoma. |
|
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 21 April 1942 |
| Builder: | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine[1] |
| Laid down: | 27 December 1942[1] |
| Launched: | 5 May 1943[1] |
| Commissioned: | 21 August 1943[1] |
| Decommissioned: | 6 April 1946[1] |
| Recommissioned: | 7 March 1952[1] |
| Decommissioned: | 1 November 1969[1] |
| Struck: | 1 November 1969[1] |
| Fate: | Memorial at Muskogee, Oklahoma, 18 February 1972[2] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Balao class diesel-electric submarine[2] |
| Displacement: | 1,470 long tons (1,490 t) surfaced[2] 2,040 long tons (2,070 t) submerged[2] |
| Length: | 311 ft 6 in (94.95 m)[2] |
| Beam: | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2] |
| Draft: | 16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum[2] |
| Propulsion: |
4 × Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8-⅛ 9-cylinder opposed piston diesel engines driving electrical generators[2][3] |
| Speed: | 20.25 knots (38 km/h) surfaced[4] 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged[4] |
| Range: | 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)[4] |
| Endurance: | 48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged[4] 75 days on patrol |
| Test depth: | 400 ft (120 m)[4] |
| Complement: | 10 officers, 68 enlisted[4] |
| Armament: | 10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (six forward, four aft) 24 torpedoes [4] 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun [4] Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon |
USS Batfish (SS/AGSS-310), a Balao-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the batfish, any of several fishes; a pediculate fish of the West Indies, the flying gurnard of the Atlantic, or a California sting ray.
Originally named Acoupa, hull SS-310 was renamed Batfish 24 September 1942; launched 6 May 1943 by Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine; sponsored by Mrs. Nellie W. Fortier; and commissioned 21 August 1943, Lieutenant Commander W. R. Merrill in command.
Batfish's war operations span a period from 11 December 1943 to 26 August 1945 during which she completed six war patrols. She is credited with having sunk nine Japanese ships totaling 10,658 tons while operating east of Japan, in the Philippine Sea, Luzon Strait, and South China Sea.
Combatant vessels sunk were: the destroyer Samidare, 26 August 1944 in 08°30′N 134°37′E / 8.5°N 134.617°E. and the submarines RO-55, 10 February 1945 in 18°56′N 121°34′E / 18.933°N 121.567°E.; RO-112, 11 February 1945 in 18°53′N 121°50′E / 18.883°N 121.833°E.; and RO-113, 13 February 1945 in 19°10′N 121°25′E / 19.167°N 121.417°E.
Batfish returned to the United States after the Japanese surrender and following completion of her pre-inactivation overhaul was placed out of commission in reserve at Mare Island Navy Yard 6 April 1946 and laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet.
On 7 March 1952 Batfish was recommissioned and on 21 April assigned to Submarine Division 122 based at Key West, Fla., to carry out training duty. She was redesignated Auxiliary Research Submarine AGSS-310, 1 July 1960.
Decommissioned for the last time, 1 November 1969, she was laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, and struck from the Naval Register same day. She was transferred to the Oklahoma Maritime Advisory Board and towed up the Arkansas River to Muskogee. There, she was placed in a dry berth and opened to the public as a memorial to Oklahoma combat submariners.
Batfish received the Presidential Unit Citation for her sixth war patrol in the South China Sea during which she sank the three Japanese submarines. She was also awarded six battle stars for her World War II service.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Friedman, Norman (1995). U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 285–304. ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 275–280. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
- ^ U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 261–263
- ^ a b c d e f g h i U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
- This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be found here and here.
[edit] External links
- Photo gallery of Batfish at NavSource Naval History
- Historic Naval Ships Association: USS Batfish
- www.ussbatfish.com
- www.batfish.org
- Maritimequest USS Batfish SS-310 Photo Gallery
- Kill record: USS Batfish
Coordinates: 35°47′40″N 95°18′40″W / 35.7944510192°N 95.310973995°W
